That got your attention I'm sure. This is a campaign setting I am working on. This campaign is set on a series of world (where most are fantasy environments), linked by a gate platform. Standing on said platform transfers you to either the next world in line or a central nexus (where you can scoot across the growing ring of worlds). Upon these worlds are Avatars, being with Halos. They have special abilities beyond those found on their world. These avatars have built up several organizations on the Ring of spheres: The Proctor's Guild, Earth Alliance, Wave Guild, Fire League, Zepher Guild, Frost League, Noble Alliance (challanging proctor's rights), Goblin Horde, several other minor ones, and the most strange: Church of Eternal Life. The Avatars adventure, intrige, and compete with each other for their own admusement.

Avatars AKA HalosAvatars are special beings that exist on these worlds. (To each other and sleepers, they have this visible halo... hence the name). Avatars are different from standard linear beings. Each avatar is latent in a number of beings, but only conscious in one at a given time. The consciousness of the Avatar then comes to the forefront in the person (the Persona). Once conscious in a persona, the Avatar will (generally) be active in that one form/ persona until its death. Upon the Persona's death, the Avatar will awaken in another of its forms with all the memories (and much of the personality) of its previous incarnation.

An Avatar's knowledge and experience follows them around, but the specific of skills are not. Those are dependent upon the persona. So while a roguishly orriented Avatar is restricted by the move silently skill level of their persona, the avatar will know how to make the most of that skill because of its experience. If the Roguishly orriented Avatar takes on a Martially orriented persona, it will have few roguish skills to utilize. But it can utilize the warrior skills of its Persona quiet easily.

When an Avatar takes on a new persona, the persona "awakens"; it is aware that it has always been the Avatar but has merely been sleepwalking through their current life. Some Avatars utilize the persona's personality and history, taking on that role; while others just "take over" and ignore the persona's previous life.

The rest of the beings in the worlds fall under the categories of mundanes (normal people who stay in their one place and don't do as much as adventurous sorts) and sleepers (who have a bit of initiative, but mostly follow avatar's orders) Sleepers are personas that are not active.

Those with Halos have a number of other odd abilities:1) The Ability to Broadcast words to every other Avatar on a Sphere. The Avatar must speak these words, loudly. If Avatars choose to pay attention, they can hear these comments. The Avatar who is paying attention can hear these words (but no one else by them can).

2) The ability to Send words to specific avatars on a sphere. They must know the names of the given avatar (which is different from their personal name). Again the words must be spoken out loud. These specific words are automatically heard by those

3) The ability to locate other Halos on any sphere. They must know the names of the given avatar (which is different from their personal name). The Avatar can feel for a given avatar. They will know what sphere(world) and sometimes what region of that world they target avatar is.

4) The Avatar knows more about their environment than than normal. They are accutely aware of their exact physical and mystical states. By spending a moment in concentration, they can become vastly more aware of things in their environment (finding traps, locating things, identifying people and monsters, learning exact location, and so on.)

5) Each Avatar can have an affiliation with an Avatar Group. When they wear the group's color/ pattern, they activate it... causing it to glow. Thus Avatars know who is actually a member of their group. The Proctor's control rank symbols (more on those later).

6) An Avatar can choose to "sleep". The character's halo dims. The character then functions as a sleeper (going through the motions. They will follow their troupe around, defending themselves, until they can settle down in a village or city. Once the avatar awakens and the halo returns to its bright self. The Sleeping function is related to a Matrix Save (see Eternal Life), except you never know exactly where you will be when you return.

Avatars who have sleeping persona's are either taking care of some cosmic business off the ring for a time OR are activating another persona. Note: If an Avatar interacts directly or indirectly (like an equipment drop) with a persona, they suffer a penalty imposed by the proctors, usually 100-500 Coyns OR the death of every persona involved. Those intentionally aiding others in the circumventing these rules, will be penalized the same way.

7) An Avatar can will itself to die. This allows the Avatar to take on a new persona. An Avatar can will itself to sleep. The Persona will sleep a natural amount of time and will arrouse as a sleeper if the Avatar is not awake.

Each Persona is a character of its sphere, with appropriate skill and power sets. If their homesphere has "special rules" they will follow those rules. (Mostly these rules will be variations on what skills are available, but other options are possible.) Most of the spheres follow the same "common rules". Most "special rules" are not applicable to other spheres. For example, a SuperHero sphere allows for meta powers. It is only a small fraction of other spheres that allows characters to use meta-powers. So the character has all these abilities, but can't use them (or finds them translated if the character was a superhero telepath and went to a psychic sphere).

An Avatar can active any of their personas from any of the spheres they have visited or can visit.

Gifts/ FeatsAkashic Hearing: The Avatar is aware of every Shout sent out, even if they are not paying attention. (Most of the time the Avatar must make a Notice type check to hear said Shout). They still can choose to ignore it, but they are aware it happened.

Akashic Touch: The Avatar knows certain avatars by feel. They can send and locate given Avatars simply by knowing their persona's name (if that persona is active). They can also recognize with some kind of notice check Avatars they know no matter what persona they are wearing.

Akashic View: The Avatar can stop and concentrate for a time and search the astreal Akashic Record for information about a Sphere, Mundane, or Group. The depth of the search determines the time taken.

Akashic Search: Like Akashic View, but the Avatar can search the record to see if they can find another Avatar's experience in a given situation. It will give the experience in general strokes. This takes quite quite a bit of time, usually 6d6 minutes but sometimes more.

Akashic Search Gyld: Like Akashic Search except it searches only the experiences of a Gyld the Avatar is part of. It provides more detailed information than a general Akashic Search, but it takes about the same amount of time.

Akashic Communication: The Avatar stops and concentrates for a while. The avatar scribes information into the Akashic record for others with Akashic Communication to read. This is like a "Shout" except it just hangs there until people answer it. The character must take time and look to see if anyone else scribed an answer. Many Avatars use this to set up deals, adventuring groups, or pass information along to their Guild.

Akashic Scrolls (Req. Akashic Search): The Avatar must focus upon the target Avatar and must be two of the following (Immediately near the Avatar, Know the Avatar's name, Know their Gyld affilliation, Know their persona name. The Avatar concentrates for a while 1-6 impules. They can review the Scrolls of Personality in the Akashic Library. This will give them some basic information about the Avatar they focusing on (Such as the Name and Archetypes of all their active and most recent personas, Avatar name, Gyld Affiliation, any badges, awards, or emblems they might have, and the last time they were awake).

The Proctors are the defacto administrators/ meta-government of the Ring.

Their symbol is a yellowish white eight pointed star (emphasized points at 0,90, 180, and 270) on a field of blue (normally). The number of symbols expresses the character's rank in the proctors guild. On any world within the Ring, this symbol can not be forged and worn. Those that do or try to impersonate a proctor (identifiable as no glow) soon find a large number of proctors and guardsmen coming after them.

Proctors (Five Stars): These are the administrators for a given sphere (or type of activity- a sphere of influence - so to speak). In most cases, proctors do nothing more than coordinate "events" for the Avatars to participate in (quests, races, tournaments, and scavenger hunt variations). For individual areas, they mediate conflicts between specific avatars in reguards to following the given rules of a sphere, rules of passage, or the general rules of politeness/ conduct/ honor. In more serious areas, the proctors mediate between various guilds when disputes or judges intraguild competitions. A proctor must witness the allignment of an Avatar to a given guild. Proctors also direct the Guardsmen to keep the peace and enforce their edicts. In most cases they do not invoke it, but proctors can also control the gate points. They can ban halos from given spheres, ban them from the entering sphere a given avatar is on, or delay any transit they might perform. They also have guardsman resistance. (See Guardsmen)

Note: While there is political manuvering inside the Proctors, as all positions are awarded by vote of the Proctors, the organization always works towards the good of the Proctors and the good of the circle. Nothing jepordizes that for very long, as other Proctors will contact additional proctors and call for a vote of confidence on the offending member.

Guardsmen (Three Stars): These are the police/ militia of the proctors. They are excellent warriors, augmented by an enhanced defenses/ resistance granted by their Guardsmen status (and when they are wearing the three stars on a blue field). Guardsman have a ranking system that applies only among themselves. Their rank is determined by one to five yellow stripes on their arms/ cuffs (These are self awarded, but social pressure inside the Guardsmen in the form of duels and assignments, keep the rankings fairly representitive of their actual power).

Guardsmen provide the "enforcement" for the Proctor's decisions. They also hunt down "trouble makers" and those who are not abiding by the general rules of the Circle or the Sphere they are on. Avatars taken down by Guardsmen do not instantly find themselves in their next avatar. They will find themselves in a Temple of Eternal Life surrounded by Guardsmen, awaiting judgement of a proctor.

This judgement of a proctor can limit which character / type of character the character can take, ban them from exiting the gate on a given sphere, ban them from exiting the gate on a sphere where a given avatar is, limit them in contests, or remove them from guilds.

It should be noted that most Guardsmen are Sleepers being directed by Guardsmen.

Agents (One Star): These are Avatars who are temporarily empowered by a Proctor for a mission. They are temporily members of the proctor's guild. They can wear their star (and the blue shield they are on) for a limited time, with the entitled glow, for that time. (The duration of the time is based on the mission, but it is always finite.) These missions can be to assist Guardsmen, investigate things, be a messanger conveying things and messages, or anything the Proctor Needs.

The Eternal Church is the "religion" of the Ring of Worlds. The Eternal one is obscure, obtuse, and largely unknowable. The worship of The Eternal is generally left to the Priests and Mundanes, as Avatars are the hands of the Eternal One.

The Church's power comes from its control over the Eternal Force: the force of Life. They have the monopoly over healing and lifeform related magics. No other field of magic can so manipulate a living creature (especially an Avatar). Medical science outside the Church is currently limited to first aid.

The Church's power is expressed by its issuing Life Coins or Coyns. LifeCoins are the only currency that counts on the ring, though Nobles and some guilds are trying to generate their own coins. Anyone praying at a temple for many hours receives a small number of Life Coins from the attendent priest. (Much fewer coyns than you would get working at even a minimal job for that same time). The original purpose was to be traded for Church Services. If given to a Priest or Healer, they will provide healing or any of the church's many services. People then began to trade Coyns for goods and services. Now Coyns are the defacto currance of the worlds.

Coyns are small packets of manna that those of the church convert into effects. Coyns have volume, but very, very little weight. They are made to look like coins. This "bundle of energy" status does make coyns somewhat unstable in large number or when hit (or using) with chaos magic. The results can be quite ... spectacular.

The Church does a bit of banking too. They have accounts for various personas. The Church, for a small fee, can cache Coyns for a given Avatar. That way when the Avatar changes to a new persona (character), they can still access the accumulated Coyns (if they return to the cache site). They also create credit letters allowing you to deposit coyns in one temple and withdraw them at a specific temple (usually to set up accounts).

PeopleThe Church's Emblem is a eight pointed star surrounded by three sides by a crescent moon. It is the same yellowish white as the proctors, on a green field. (The Green glows on a priest or healer). Also when wearing their church symbol, their halo glows a bit brighter).

Healers (One Star): Avatars who wish to heal are "gifted" by the church. They are required to wear a patch of green cloth with a single Church symbol. They can absorb coyns and generate healing, or "freeze a body" so it can be fixed later, or if in a chapel, reknit limbs and even revive an recently mangled body (which requires a lot of coyns). Note: There are Healers that are Sleepers.

Lead Healer (Two Stars): These healers that organize the other Healer. These are Avatars function as a guild master for all the healers on a given sphere or who operate under a given guild. Other than being able to send to a proctor and not be ignored, they are exactly like a regular healer.

Priests (Four Stars): These are the priests of The Eternal Church. In most places, they wear green robes and have a funny greenish yellow skin tone. In others, they will "fit in" to the sphere... though green and the symbol will be the same.

Each Chapel will have at least one priest (and upto four). Each Temple will have five to fifty depending on the location. They function just like regular healers. Unlike regular healers they can draw upon coins "banked" at the temple/ chapel by the character/ avatar. They have one other power. People can ask a character a question. The priest will stop, pray for a moment, and give you a cryptic answer related to your question. Most priests seem to be "sleepers", but they have moments where they seem quite alive.

Priests have a huge bank of Coyns. So if you attack them, they immediately heal themselves. Attacking a Priest makes one "marked". Marking means that you have no access to some priestly healing ability or that your banked Coyns are no longer available to you. The Dialog goes something like "Oooof. You should not do that. It shall cost you your 1130 coyns. OW! You shall never have a limb rejoined. No Healer or Priest will be able to use said ability for the character ever again. If one attacks a healer while they are carrying no weapons and taking no actions against anyone (except healing) will also result in the character being marked (though the damage is halved).

High Priests (Six Stars): Supposedly there are eight high priests on the circle of spheres. They have never been seen, nor has anyone found the High Temple (though rumors abound). The Nobles Guild has a huge Coyn reward for the person finding said temple.

Powers of the Eternal Church

1) Healing: The Healer absorbs a coyn, touches the target, and concentrates for a bit. After a bit of glow, the target is healed a certain amount. In games with high damage points (like D20), 1 coyn per point healed. In games with low damage points (Gurps, Hero), 3 to 5 coyns per point. Fatigue can be removed for 1 coyn.

2) Freeze Form: The target is usually unconscious, but if conscious must consent. The target goes limb, but stops bleeding (or decaying), loosing points to disease/ poison/ et al. Limbs removed can be frozen seperately than the main body.

3) Mark Avatar: Anyone who harms a priest or healer in healing mode is marked. The amount or type of damage/ attack determines the nature of the Mark.

4) Rejoin Limb, repair organ: Within 10 minutes of injury, the limb or organ can be replaced and reattached avoiding the penalties for lack of limb/ organ. This allows you to prevent blindness, deafness, restoring of ripped out hearts, cut off arms or limbs. While a head can be reattached this way, the character must resurrected seperately. The Cost is 10 to 50 coyns.

5) Cure Illness/ Curse/ Poison: The effects of the illness, curse, poison, are neturalized for 10 to 50 coyns (depending on the nature and acuity). The damage can be magically healed for additional coyns.

6) Change Appearance: The avatar can be given a new face, skin tone, eye colors, hair color, or hairstyle for the nominal charge of 10 Coyns. Changes in build or genders (which are important if you get bonuses/ penalties for builds/ gender) are 25 coyns. Changes in humanoid species can be achieved for 50 to 200 coyns (depending on bonuses/ penalties if any).

7) Imprint Matrix: When Banking Coyns, the character's halo is "harmonized" with it. This takes that one step farther. For the cost of Healing all your damage, plus the cost of half the standard equipment (things which normally can be bought), plus 25 coyns, your matrix can then be saved at a temple.

If the avatar dies (or wills themself dead), they can transfer themselves to this imprinted matrix, creating a new body with all its stuff. The avatar's skills are maintained at the level they were when imprinted, not reflecting any increases after that.

A character can only have three saved matrixes at a time. If a forth matrix is saved, the halo must determine which one of the others must be lost.

8) Restore Youth: Persona can have years removed from its age at a cost of 150 Coyns per year. The biological/ chronological age is the only one that adjusts abilties. So one can alter their appearance to look quiet old, but actually be a young adult.

9) Change Species: The Avatar can become any animal that if found in the sphere and region of the temple the change is occuring. The character can no longer carry equipment and in most cases cast spells. (These items can be stored for a small fee or your friends can take them). The Cost varies depending on the effectiveness of the species taken. The cost could be 200 to be a mouse, 500 to be a hawk or wolf, 750 to be a bear, 1000 to be a whyrn, and 10,000 to be a dragon. Note if you

10) Resurrection: 10,000 Coyns will reactivate the avatar of a given Halo. This must occur before the next sundown or sunup (unless the target is frozen). Sleepers can be resurrected, but mundanes can not.

11) Create Life: Three to twelve priests, performing a ritual together, at a temple, can create lifeforms, be they animal, creature, mundane, or sleeper. (Some say this is how the life on each world is created.) There is no cost for this, but it can only be done "at the will of the Eternal Force or the Eternal Powers that Be.". If an avatar tries to access a certain persona that for some reason does not or no longer exists, sometimes the priests utilize this ritual and the avatar appears in that newly manifested persona at them temple (This is often done for massive events). Though a temple is required to create life, there are rumors of chapels dedicated to this function being sufficent. These chapels would be hidden in the outlands of each sphere.

Each Sphere is a "world" with its own look, feel, and rules. Each Sphere will have a GatePoint and The Eternal Church (though the look of the church might vary).

GatePoints

Generally The GatePoint is upon a raised platform. On the center of the platform, is a red circular halo suitable upto five people to enter, defining the gate zone. The Gate Point is often framed by an arch or container of some kind, that fits the look of the world. This could be a set of standing stones, a transporter cone, a cathedral of trees, two intertwining Venician statues, or what ever best reflects the Sphere. There is often a public square or temple build around the GatePoint. In one place, the gatepoint is always on a train that is just about to pull into the Great Central Station.

There is supposed to be free travel to and from a GatePoint. In some cases there is a "toll" to enter the city around the gatepoint. Sometimes you can get a proctor to escort you directly to the gate to avoid the toll.

Once an Avatar is on the GatePoint, they can will themselves to the next world in the ring. Travel is then DeSol or Widdershines (Counter Clockwise or Clockwise) along the Ring. New Worlds appear along the ring as they are added to it. If the Proctor's have blocked access to a sphere, that character "skips" over it.

There are Five Worlds with two GatePoints, one Red and the Other Blue. The Blue GatePoints transfers one to Cynosure, the Central Proctor's Sphere (Which is one giant city with different areas having different rules of reality-to be detailed later). Cynosure has five green GatePoints, back to these five worlds. Thus you can sometimes "cut across" the sphere by travelling to Cynosure, saving time in jumps. The Proctors charge 10 Coyns to utilize the Cynosure gate (unless you are a Proctor, Militia, or Agent, then it is free).

There are rumors that The Proctors can create temporary gates elsewhere in the world, allowing them to import monsters to a sphere. But this is only a rumor. But if only one gate point is allowed to be active on a world at a time, it would explain the odd periods of time when certain spheres/ gates are not available.

SpheresEach Sphere has its own look and feel to it. All follow the same basic rules. A few spheres, called Moon Spheres or Crescent Spheres (because their red gate points have crescent cut outs), have their own special rules. Normally these spheres have abilities, powers, or magics that only work on that sphere, but sometimes crescent spheres restrict the usable of normal abilities, powers, or magics. Some crescent spheres have cosmetic requriements (i.e. you have to have equipment (and sometimes a species) that fits the world. This is not an exaustive list, but this will give you an idea about the kind of worlds that exist on the Ring.

*)Shallanar: A standard fantasy world.*)Porthian: A standard fantasy world with the addition of bonded animals. Bonded animals, being sleepers, can not travel the gatepoints.*)Pellicuidar: An inner earth sphere, but a standard fantasy world in a place with constant sun. *) Mannath: A world of tall towers and home of the StarGuild (Magic Guild). *) Twilight: A standard fantasy world shrounded in perpetual twilight and littered with ancient cities and tombs. *) Freoth: A world of ice and cold. *) Imperium: A Roman World.*) Solaris: A world with an Egyptian theme. A crescent world, limited to local magics rather than standard magics. *) Gothum: Crescent world: Enter the world of the Pulp 20s and 30s. A Humans only world, where a temple/ chapel is in a train pulling into the central train station. *) Regency: A world where the Regency period is played out. Muskets function here. Crescent for "look". *) Oceanus: A world covered with mostly oceans. the action occurs with aquatic people below the waves. The Gate enters into an Eternal Life Temple where the Priests can convert you to an aquatic species. The most notable features are the downward staircase that leads into the ocean.*)Scaramous: This is the world of floating islands and skyships. Falchon, an angelic appearing race, is found here.

Gylds (pronounced Guild) are organizations of Avatars. Greater Gylds are groups chartered by the Proctor's Guild. They are the first Gylds. They are allowed to run regions and territories in the spheres. This allows them to tax and toll the locals for LifeCredits. Over the ages, others have petitioned for Gyld status since and a few have been granted. These have become the Lesser Gylds. There are currently seven greater gylds and fifteen lesser ones.

Having Gyld status allows you to speak with proctors readily, transfer between spheres faster (and you get to cut in line ahead of non-gyld members), enter certain events, get equipment and passes from your group, and a variety of little things. In addition, you can have others at your back should you really need help.

Gyld Emblems for Greater Guilds are the eight pointed star used by the Proctors. (Well except for Arcanum). Lesser Gyld Emblem is a circle. Gyld Members can wear the appropriate pattern/ color and have it "glow" showing their identification. Lesser Master (one symbol) are Gyld members who function as supervisors of gyld activities and representives of the gyld for the proctors) for each sphere. Greater Masters (two symbols) are the Gyld members who supervise the supervisors and work closely with the proctors arranging events. The Greater Guilds get five members who form their council, Lesser guilds get three.

1) Earth Alliance (Color is a brown and green mottled mixed texture pattern)This Gyld is the most dominant one over the Ring. While they are not known to be the best at any kind of tournament, they are consistant and focused in their drives. While individual members might join any contest/ tournament/ quest, the Guild pushes its members (and arranges scheduled training and drills) for Proctor events that result in territories and persmissions. They work hard on maintaining their control over their regions, having pull with the Proctors, and increasing Gyld power in general.

The Alliance is centered in Imperium, but has a strong presence in most of the "Generic Fantasy Spheres".

2) Wave Guild (Color is a blue, green, and white mottled mixed texture pattern)The Wave Guild is an average gyld. Their members have banded together for their own protection and comradery. They win a few big events and lose a few. Their Gyld masters are working on focusing the Guild more, so they can have their own "home sphere". Despite their water association, they seem to have no special presence in any of the sailing events or aquatic worlds.

3) Fire League (Color is a red, yellow, orange, mottled mixed texture pattern)Fire Leaguers are known as the premire warriors of the Ring. In fact, avatars must prove their prowess in tournament combat before they are even invited to try out for the guild. They only thing which has prevented their "running" the ring is that they are great as individuals, good as small unit, but do not have much focus at the level of generals/ guild masters. In addition to their combat prowess, they excelling in all forms of races as well.

4) Zepher Guild (Color is a light blue and white mottled mixed texture pattern):The Zephers are different than most Gylds. They do not focus on "winning" tournaments. Zepher members focus on less tactical aspects and more on social/ political aspects. In now way is this better express than the Zephers near total dominance of "Regency". Their members tend to arrange social soap operas, murder mysteries, and court political events with the proctors. These are the events they excell at, so they maintain control over their regions .

5) Frost League (Color is a light whitish blue)The Frost League is the other average gyld. Their members have banded together for their own protection and comradery. This is more important is the Fire League seems to think there is a rivalry between the two groups. They are competent warriors, but good negociators. They are defending their hold on Freoth (Ice Sphere) quite compentently. (While only compentent warriors, they have a strong organizational aspect). The Frost league's strengths are similar to the Zepher Guild. Some people call them a "less snobby zepher". The Frost League has developed a strong contingent in the sailing regions and control several island in a Pirate's sphere.

6) Arcanum (Color is a royal purple dotted with tiny stars):Arcanum is more of a technical guild, rather than a political organization. This is the only organization that utilizes its own emblem, a Crescent Moon. The avatars in this organization are dedicated to maintaing magic/ power systems and training people in their correct use. In many ways, they function as The Proctors for all magic and power. While there are power users in every gyld (and many independents), they received their training from Arcanum members. Also, Arcanum members have access to abilities beyond those normally possible and are immune to all gyld fees and many of their restrictions. Master (one moon): Like your standard lesser master. There are normally three per sphere, one for sphere is there is no magical powers yet power.Grand Master (two moons): Like your standard Gyld Masters. There is one for each school/ listing of magic.Adept (three moons): These are instructors, those who can grant/ teach spell abilities. Often they are sleepers who stay in their towers. Masters and GrandMasters can teach/ grant, but they require a proctor and a coyn to do it.

Arcanum can also utilize Manna Sphere, Coyns for magical energy.

7) Shadow Guild: (Color is a mottled mix texture of various greys and blacks): The Gyld for Avatar thieves and assassins. They are also the only source of poisons that will effect Avatars and Sleepers. They are also immune to some of the normal "laws" of the spheres because of their status. There are actually very few members, as their status as a gyld member shows up the moment anyone checks their guild allignment. Thus if you want to know who stole something, use a guild disk to look for the thief. Many thievish sorts complain that the Shadow Glyd was made a Gyld for the Proctors to keep the thieves in line and limit their organize numbers.

8) Luna Guild (Closed): The Proctors have closed this gyldd for abuse of powers. The Gyld was made up of a number of special empowered races: Weres, Spirit Children, Dragonling, Basts, Angels, and Faries, to name a few.

Lesser GyldsNoble Alliance (challanging proctor's rights):Believing that the Proctors have received too much power from "The Eternal Powers", many Avatars are working to provide a different power structure. The Nobles function as proctors in many ways. They often do the leg work for setting up Events. They even sponsor their own events (requiring small fees to sign up). Currently the Nobles are drawn from all Greater Gylds, of people who should be Guild Leaders, but are not.

The Horde (Color is a mottled mix texture of various greens and brown with touches of red)Some people like being monsters. These are avatars who want to be monsters on a regular basis and have choosen personas appropriately. They are Goblins, Orcs, Troll, Wapti, and other "monster races". This Gyld's members are often escorted through gates and gyld areas by proctors... then released into the wild. They are often imported for certain proctored events. (There are rumors of special gates that allow Hordes to be "dropped" into the back of the world by the Proctors). The Horde is centered on "The Wildlands" a sphere with only monsters (and goblin villages), where many adventurous Avatars attempt to improve their skills (and often die trying) and many of the Horde hone their own.

Band Leaders have one circles, while WarLeaders have two. It is seldom there is a WarLeader on a sphere (or left alive).

There is a debate among the Proctors about making The Horde a Greater Guild, giving them the same degrees of immunity and independence as the Arcanum. This would free the Proctors up from "escort" duty.

Luna's Children: This Gyld was founded by some survivors who were not destroyed of the Luna Gyld. Luna's children are all Weres, Beast men, or characters who know one spell... that of transformation. They live and play in the wilds and shadows, living their odd psuedo tribal lifestyle. Now they restrict themselves to spheres which allow their existance (Though for a price, certain guilds will allow them in... their existance adding spice to the environment). The Proctors are carefully monitoring this guild, as abuse of powers and ignoring of crescent sphere restrictions was the reason why Luna was disbanded. This group is often affiliated with The Horde, The Arcanum, and the Frost League.

Luna's Flowers: Originally founded by some of the survivors of the Luna Wars. The race called the Spirit Children is no more, and Faries are limited to one sphere at this time, but the Flowers maintain the look and feel of these races (with their angular features, large eyes, and off skin tones. Colonies of Luna's Flowers are found in many spheres. These colonies live in their own little fantasy lands, where the members flit about doing little, trying to ignore the realities of life. They normally get violent when you disturb their illusion,

Mercenary Companies (the colors are plaids):Mercenary companies are just that, groups of Avatars that fight (or compete) under the banner of the Gyld that hires them. There are dozens of them. Most are short lives, but a few like the ThunderBolts, Malachi's Hammers, and The Rider of the Green, have hundreds of members who have been fighting/ competing with each other for long periods of time. The Zepher guild is the most common employer of Mercenary companies, but all Guilds use them from time to time (The Fire League hires them to fight against them).

Gyld WheelThis is an odd little piece of equipment thats size is somewhere between a large frisbee and a medium shield. Upon the shield are the various Gyld colors (Usually only the Greater Gylds, but some have dozens of lesser groups as well). If an avatar holds/ touches the Gyld Wheel, their gyld allignment will glow, as if their were wearing the color. This gives a means of identification to those not wearing their guild colors. This item is the bane of the Shadow Guild.

Certain Gateways have these built into the floor of the gate chamber, so the observer will note the affiliations.

Immortality can be quite boring. As the decades and centuries roll on one needs distractions. One also needs consequence to ones actions and a sense of risk to keep an semblance of sanity and stabilty. Events and Tournaments provide that.

That is why Avatars go do things that are interesting. They go fight monsters. They intrigue about petty and transient things. They have big dramatic love affairs and huge fall outs. They play being at court. They go out and risk themselves to have new experiences and perfect themselves. They also gamble on the outcome, because without any real risk acts become pointless.

Yet lives of pointless waundering and potentially destructive hedonism is almost as great a waste as immortal battles.

Events and Tournaments provide outlets for Avatars and safe ways for them to resolve conflicts. Many events are simple: races, gladitorial combat, scavenger hunts. These exist to give Avatars something to do and ways to hone their skills. Some Events and Tournaments have more at stake than a mere badge (badges granting bragging rights and the right to go to "the next level" of competition). The ability to control a region (usually a city/ village/ neighborhood or important area), allowing control over entrance and exit and even collecting fees for actions that occur there, is something Avatars can fight over. The true battle of immortals never ends until the destructionof the sphere. But if the battle (and its objectives) are staged, with conditions that it ends, the battle between immortals will not destroy the sphere. That is why the Proctors exist, to make sure that conflicts are well and carefully defined. By making it a "game" that will come up again in a year or three, it allows the avatars to realize that "next time they can take the prize."

Proctors create and maintain Gylds to allow for bigger events and greater organization. They utilize the will of the Eternal One to keep the order of things. The Gylds also organize events, tournaments, and quests to work on their own power and prestige.

In very special cases of Massive Events, avatars coing through the gate for the event are allowed to store their matrix for a minimal cost and utilize a persona created directly for the event. Gyld Allignments can even be changed (for the duration of the Event).

The Games and Events are all part of the Eternal Force and the Eternal Powers that Be's plan. Avatars are scions of the Eternal Force: learning, developing, and experiencing. Avatars are immortal, yet the personas they control are not. Avatars are blocked from learning the actual act of performing a physical task. Thus the Avatars must always balance the risk of what they do against the skills and abilities they have already gained.

This seems so Strange.There is a secret behind the world, something that the player characters would not know (or should not act upon). To know the secret kind of ruins the world for you.

In short, there are two layers ... one the way it is percieved, and one the way it truly is...

How many personas can I have active at one time?An avatar can only awaken one of their personas at a time. The rest of their avatars are all sleepers. If an avatar's attentions are on some other astreal matter OR they are awake in another persona, the persona waunders as a sleeper.

what sorts of plots would those Avatars take part in? Mostly, their world is one of scheduled games and diversions. There is some active political events between the guilds, but many of their "conflicts" are defined by the proctors. All the Gylds are vying for coyns and the right to collect them.

There may be other personal and campaign specific plots for your campaign, but there are no specific plot types. There are no meta-plots.

Note: some of the events have prizes that are more than mere tropies, some give coyns, some give empowered items, or something that might be valuable to someone else. It might be used to extract a promise out of someone.

Most of the time you are just risking your persona's developed skills in these life or death struggles.

Examples?They fight "tournaments" for the fight to control a city (and collect tolls of coyns for entering it). Both sides mass up and fight. The catch is that most of these events put the persona at risk... so the Avatar must balance their desire to "go for it" vs their desire to keep the skills their pesona has developed over time. And yes, Avatars do not have skills... just personas. (Thus you never have the 100%+ skill issue that will eventually occur in a game where the characters can not die). So the Avatar is immortal, but the persona and its abilities are not.

So there are no real eternal threatNope Priests are the only real power. Proctors just seem like it. Gylds are just ways to keep score. So no, there is no real threat; not as an intrinsict part of the setting/ campaign. (So no meta-plots.) Though invasions of beyond are a perfectly good "add on" to such a campaign. It in not part of the cannon.

Wait, so if someone dies I lose all my skills. My Avatar can't learn skills?That is right. The persona can only learn skills. Avatars can learn how to best utilize those skills they have. Remember it is not what you know, it is how you utilize it. So knowing how to "strike with sword" fairly well is not as important of knowing the tactics of using the various types of sword strikes.

So Avatars just possess people?It is kind of like you know it is back there all your life. Then you realize that you really are that Avatar and the life you have been living is merely you sleepwalking. Some personas never realize that an Avatar has taken over their life.

What the **** are Coyns?Coyns are the real power around here. They are manifest packets of eternal force energy. They are used by the Eternal Priests to empower clerical powers. They are used as money by people, as healing and the resulting eternal youth for people is the only real thing of value. Gylds can bank coyns for their members to use, so there are banks for Coyns.

There are magical Coyns as well for various types of magic, but they are harder to use.

You can "save the game"?No, you can save an avatar at its current skill levels and equipment for a HUGE FEE. Time and Events pass normally, so while you might of "saved" yourself the world as it is now... not as it was then. Normally these forms are stored special events, so the character can take on a more appropriate form for the event. But once this precidence is set, someone would be using it for daily save. Of course, once your avatar reactivates that "saved version" it is no longer saved and you would have to fork over that huge fee again.

*) Races: Of course there are the standard fantasy ones, but there should be a few more. Also certain spheres should have their own special ones.

*) Economy: Work out an actual price list (or a proportion) and cost of living. Actually I will list them as percentages of a cost of living and the price lists of the game system you are using. So if living well on your world costs 40 coins a week, then prices should be based off that.

*) More event examples: Since events are important, I should flesh that out. Keep in mind that most people are just out there adventuring... doing their own thing (killing monsters, collecting treasure, intriguing against each other) or playing a particular scenario (the players on Regency do most of their "fighting" with words and intrigue). Events are just special things that punctuate their every day

*)More worlds to explore: I should fill out the 42 or so that are on the ring.

Nicely done! I like this a lot!It is especially nice since it can be put onto any setting, any world.

Now for the constructive criticism:The first few posts were a little confusing. There were a lot of references that could have been better explained then and there (and yes, everything does become clear after a while). The setting is intriguing and captivating, especially after the initial confusion ends.

Some questions:You mention ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œAkashicÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬? a lot in the beginning. Why do you use that word, what does it mean? Is it just for cool effect or is it reflecting some organization, higher law, school of magic or divine plan?

Mundanes vs Avatars, what is the big picture?(Does the mundanes know about the avatars? Are the avatar "floating through the streets with fluttering clothing" (i.e. are they clearly different), or do they mingle unnoticed amongst the mundanes? Are the mundanes "treated like cattle", or are they treated with respect? The avatars surely seem powerful enough to do as they please... How is the avatar-mundane ratio? Are there 1 avatar for every 2 mundanes, 1 for every 1.000, 1 for every 100.000?)

Can everyone see the glow from gyld clothing and the like, or is it invisible like the Halo (to the mundanes I mean)?

Can everyone, including mundanes, produce coyns? Or is this gift restricted to avatars?

More on the Eternal one. How is he connected to the avatars? Are they the embodiments of his essence? Are they his ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œangelsÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬? and ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œdemonsÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬??

Is gyld affiliation dependent on avatar or persona? The text under "shadow gyld" suggests the latter. Thus I'd imagine that an avatar leaving/dying from his Shadow Gyld assassin persona and awakening in a new sleeper is cleared of all affiliations and ready to enter a new gyld (or even already a member)?

As a consequence of the life-coyn monopoly of the church, it is able to completely control the economy. If they want inflation, they will release a lot of coyns. On the opposite they might restrict the coyns and thus increase the cost of everything. WonÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t this be utilized by avaricious priests? The church certainly seems powerful...

I see that you have introduced a lack of ultimate punishment (death, insanity, etcÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â¦) and introduced a ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œlevel drainÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬? kind of effect ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“persona loss (skill loss). While the loss of ability is certainly something the players dread, will it be enough to create suspension and excitement?

What is the ultimate goal of the avatars? If a gyld should conquer everything, life would rapidly become boring it seems. Would such a gyld simply collapse and give birth to several new gylds so that the spiral could start anew?

Negligible details: A) (Under Lead Healer):

Quote

Other than being able to send to a proctor and not be ignored, they are exactly like a regular healer.

This is somewhat diffuse at this stage. I understand that you mean the ability to send words to specific avatars, but it was not immediately obvious.

B) Paragraph 9 under "Powers of the eternal church" ends abruptly.

C) Under Gate points, 4th paragraph:

Quote

unless you are a Proctor, Militia, or Agent, then it is free.

militia should read guardsman to be consistent with what you wrote in the Proctor's Gyld section.

Once again I emphasize that this was a very good setting. A worthwhile read!

I believe that "Akashic" refers to Edgar Cayce's Akashic Record, the idea that all humans have a sort of race-mind that contains all the memories and thoughts of all past and present human beings.

I agree with the little detail criticisms- it does seem a little patchy here and there.

I believe that the Avatars were invisible, and when the possess someone, the only way to tell that person apart is by their Halo (or Gyld stuff or big magical powers), so I would assume that they seem pretty much human.

Who is the Eternal One? Is he an abstract, distant deity? A concept? Or something like Allah/Yaweh/God?

A few things off the top:The writing is fairly sketchy about this setting. I am still working all of it out in my head as I am writing. Hence the reason it is in here, rather than Setting Forge.

The Akashic, is the segment of the Astreal that contains thought and wisdom. The Jungian and non Jungian Collective Unconscious or OverMind of the Human race would be here as well. In the Akashic is the Library of the Soul, the astreal repository of all wisdom. Some occultists see this as an actual astreal place (like a fey place would be), while others think of it as a paradign or visualization tool that allows one to access the psychosphere (The energy that is throughts, trapped in the electromagnetic/ energy spheres that shield the world from the Outside.) I would of thought that the term would of been better known. My bad.

FAQingMundanes vs Avatars, what is the big picture? Mundanes do not realize the Avatars are there. In fact, they are so focused on their own lives/ worlds, that they would not notice anything out of the ordinary and if they did, they would rationalize it away. Most Avatars treat them like people. Mundanes hold the world together and make all those cool things that Avatars want and need (including food). If Avatars harm the mundanes, they will still be brought to task by Guardsmen/ Procotors based upon the laws of the given land. (So a noble Avatar in a Japanese Fantasy game can strike them down at whim, while someone in a more modern setting would be brought up for murder.)

In short, Avatars are a layer added upon a world... rather than an intricate part.

Who can see halos?Unless you an an Avatar, you can not see the Halo.

Who can see Guild Marks and Glowing clothsUnless you are an Avatar, you can not see them.

What is the ratio of Mundanes to Avatars:It is pretty high on the sides of the mundanes. There are probably a few hundred on any given sphere. Avatars per say, are not running the world. The Proctors are making sure it runs the way they want, even though mundanes and sleepers might be running the world.

Who can produce CoynsPriests are the only ones who can concentrate Eternal Energies into Coyns. They take the energy produced by belief and make it material. Per few hours of prayer, Avatars generate more energy than Sleepers, Sleepers more than mundanes.

The Eternal One, Who is this guy?It is the will of the Universe.

How is this Eternal One connected to the Avatars?The Eternal Force touches certain spheres. Priests, as we know them, eventually occur. The Priests bring those spheres into the rings. Avatars are souls (or oversouls) that have access to more Eternal Force than most spheres. This gives them their abilities. And other than their communicative abilities and the ability to switch forms, Avatars have the same powers as all the normal people on a given sphere.

There is some gobblygook told by the priests that the Avatars are "hands of the Eternal", that there actions keep the wheel of spheres turning. Being a cryptic lot, the priests are not more helpful than that when asked this question.

Is gyld affiliation dependent on avatar or persona? It follows the Avatar. Note to self: Add a way to change gyld affiliations. It probably requires Proctors, Guild Masters, Time, and Cash. Not something to be done casually.

So the Church has a Monopoly on Money:Well, sort of. Coyns are more a commodity item, rather than a controled resource. If you pray in a temple/ chapel, priests have to give you the Coyns you earn. If they don't, proctors get involved, then Head Priests, and so on.

I see that you have introduced a lack of ultimate punishment (death, insanity, etcÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â¦) and introduced a ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œlevel drainÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬? kind of effect ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“persona loss (skill loss). While the loss of ability is certainly something the players dread, will it be enough to create suspension and excitement? It can. There is an implied, but unstated time delay on bringing a new persona "online", in addition to delays when traveling between spheres. If the current plot is time dependent (which most good game plots are), it can create tension. It all really depends on the troupe. This campaign is more of a focus on the win/ loss column.

What is the ultimate goal of the avatars? None is currently listed. Each avatar chooses their own path, to meet their own needs, their own victory conditions. The troupe should have similar or non mutually exclusive goals for harmony in the group. To quote, "There are a hundred roads that lead to heaven, the trick is staying on one of them."

If a gyld should conquer everything, life would rapidly become boring it seems. Yep, if some gyld got close, the proctors would probably begin to interfere in the process. Given the very... ummm.. willful and independent nature of most Avatars.. they will probably have intragyld conflict before they can actually take everything over. Plus the other gyld members will be working on stopping them. After all, they don't die off... so eventually they do come back at you.

Would such a gyld simply collapse and give birth to several new gylds so that the spiral could start anew? Welcome to what happened with the Luna Guild. They were a group that like the Arcanum or Shadows, was focused on a type of "play". They defied the Proctors, thinking their rules were superior to the rules of the spheres. They were mostly hunted down and most of their avatars are currently in suspension at some temple somewhere. Those that are not form the basis of Luna's Children and Luna's Fowers. Note: If one gyld manage to conquer everything, I am sure it would facture into power factions inside the gyld... thus new gylds would be born.

Who is the Eternal One? Is he an abstract, distant deity? A concept? Or something like Allah/Yaweh/God? The Eternal one is obscure, obtuse, and largely unknowable.

Since I'm on a school comp, I didn't have time to read all of the posts in this thread, but based on what I read (the first post) this was really interesting, and once I get home, I'll definitely read all of them

One point though, these Halos who embody peronas brought to my mind the world of Exalted. If I remember correctly, the same idea was used there? The spirit emobies a persona, the persona gains the memories of the previous lives, although it could take a long time, but the persona doesn't gain the skills of the previous persona?

It could be that the Avatars are something different; they were parasites, that colonized these worlds. They might have been sentient before, or not. Influencing their carriers, and starting to live with them in symbiosis (sort of), and continue to jump from person to person, and have fun. Sleepers are those best adapted to a given par... I mean Avatar.

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Can the Avatars actually die? If so, how? Absolute immortality is boring, the should be at least _that_ one improbable option mentioned in legends.

Or could an Avatar will himself to die the True Death?

On the other hand, how are Avatars born? It shouldn't be an easy process, since the worlds would be overrun by them. One idea: the True Death of an Avatar could produce new Avatars.

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"...Coyns are more a commodity item..." - sounds like a currency to me. These Coyns are a currency for the Avatars only, right? How often do mundanes come across them? The Coyns are useful in many worlds. If there are contacts between these worlds, Coyns are likely to be used in trade.

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Can sleepers (or mundanes) travel through the Gates, or is it possible only for the Avatar. I think yes, but you may want to make it clear; the Gates are probably not visible to mundanes, but accidents could occur.

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A monopoly on healing could produce another "Guild" (without any outward marking) composed of outcast characters, that tries to find other ways to these and other important services. May quietly support the Nobles. They could also try the unthinkable: to actually learn something...

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Say, is this to be a computer game? While there is something cool about the whole set of ideas, large parts seem to be targeted at powergamers, which would certainly like this concept, along with "saving" the game, and the chance to start always anew, and still be the same guy. It seems to be self-regulating: a monopoly on the important service of healing, a strong enforcing organisation, that can make life for diffilcut characters diffilcut, and so on. And many references to other GM-only decisions.

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Sometimes it really gets a bit unclear, like "the halo must determine which one of the others must be lost". I thought the halo was only a visual effect, than read it anew and noticed it is in fact the Avatar. My fault I guess.

(Later) in 10) Resurrection: "will reactivate the avatar of a given Halo" so is there a difference between the two things? I am sure you have this in your head, possibly it is a way of speaking these beings use. Consider adding a small glossary somewhere at the top.

Yes, this is, in a way, similar to Exalted, except that instead of another "being" inhabiting a body, it is simply a very large amount of power (the Exalted Essence) coupled with a few memories from a past life.

Nephilim was way ahead of Exalted with this "inhabit / possess a body" phenomenon (there might be even earlier occurences of this pheomenon. I'd wager it all stems from "Magic Jar" or the soul-switching in H.P. Lovecraft's tales).

But it is a cool effect. So much has been invented within roleplaying games that we can't expect to invent the wheel every day any more. I guess Willis and Petersen has created too much and left the rest of us with very little.

Nephilim is actually based upon the occult concept of soul development. There are three kinds of souls, those souls that will be innanimate objects for this universe, those that will be intelligent/ animate objects for this universe, and those that will be dieties/ higher spirits for this universe. Nephilim fall into that last category. Some people have called "developing into diety" souls Nephilim, though that is not the most common usage for it.

Lovecraft's magic jar tales stem from Egyptian Mythology, which given the first King Tut craze in the 20s/30s, you can see the inspiration.

Randomly: re: It could be that the Avatars are something different; they were parasites....I actually think I am going to go with an Oversoul explanation. But it is an interesting twist.

Can the Avatars actually die?Currently, I do not have a way for that occur. Though it would make a great meta-plot for a campaign. The ability to destroy an Avatar would completely change the balance of power here. Unless the Proctors acted quickly, making it a rule that such a weapon/ attack could not exist on most spheres, the destroyer can take down most of the gylds.

There is a way to effectively die. That is to be bound. Proctors can only soul catch and bind, and that is with Priestly help. If you can't awaken a new persona, you are now effectively mortal. Your next death will effectively be your last (because your avatar is going to be trapped somewhere). This is where most of the Luna Guild is, trapped in a temple somewhere unable to awaken new avatars.

How are Avatars born:New Avatars seem to come into existance periodically. Some old avatars seem to never reawaken new personas, effectively dying for the purposes of the game. Perhaps the old avatars are approached by priests and given an option to release them from their pain/ confusion/ complicated existances. They can choose to Discorporate. Those energies could allow a new Avatar to exist, maybe reforged by the priests or by a new oversoul. Perhaps their numbers are approximately even, as nobody knows as there has been no real census of the Avatar population.

"...Coyns are more a commodity item..." - sounds like a currency to me.So were Cowery shells traded by the Native Americans.

Mundanes use them as currency as well. They use them to buy immortality/ years off their age, repair broken limbs, cure diseases. So they also use them like money.

They have become part of the meta-culture of the ring of spheres. Everywhere there is an Eternal Church, i.e. Everywhere the Eternal Force has sway, there are coyns.

Also not based on material things for money, allows people to trade them across the world.

Can sleepers (or mundanes) travel through the Gates, or is it possible only for the Avatar. Only Avatars and Sleepers. Mundanes are tied to their world, completely part of it. They can not move between.

There is supposedly a way to allow them to be moved through gates by Priests, but that is just a theoretical.

Outcast "Gyld"What are these, people who have peeved off The Eternal Church or the Proctors? Such people would support anyone or anything that could provide those important services. Of course, the Eternal Force would have to be invoked.

(hmmmm meta-plot/ rogue priests)

I need to rework a new vocabulary for Halos, Avatars, Personas.

Halos are the side effect upon the persona. It marks awake people.Personas are bodies, who have some semblence of life, living on spheres awaiting awakening.Kas, or spirits, comedown and make a persona an Avatar,

Are mundanes aware of the state of things?They cannot see Avatars, but surely they must wonder when there are weird transfer platforms around, and the Eternal Church and all of that gobbledeegook. Is it a Matrix sort of thing? Mundanes can only see what they want to see unless they are forced to it? Or perhaps the see most of it and ignore some of it?If they are aware of the situation, why is the existence of avatars a secret?

Are Mundanes aware of the state of things?They can not see Halos, that is true. However, the spheres are basic self supporting worlds without Avatars. There is the normal local government in most places. People are usually aware that Proctors are sort of an uber-government and that there are other worlds that they govern the travel between. They are aware of the Eternal Church and the Priests. They are aware of Coyns (as anywhere the EC touches, there are Coyns). They use them for money. They use them to buy healing and rejuvination. They are aware of Gylds and that they are groups that control/ supervise certain regions or the rights to tax certain regions.

(Note there are certain places (Crescents) where the rules are slightly different. There is normally just an EC church there, or it is low key in some way. See individual world write ups.)

Generally the life of a mundane is seldom impacted by an Avatar. Ask yourself how many normal people's lives are impacted by a few hundred adventurers running "amok" in their game world. Other than a few merchants, most people will not have contact with them, and unless they "save the world", seldom do actions they take have a ripple effect to them. Sure some group is taxing them entrance fees to and from the city, but someone is always taxing them to go to and from the city.

Answered question?

Note: Crescent: Perhaps the amount of the moon shows the variation of the world. So on worlds with slight restrictions, there will be a sliver crescent moon in the GateCircle; on worlds with heavy restrictions, there will be a "full moon".

I am a bit confused about the physical (if such a term can be applied to metaphysical domains) aspect of the various worlds or spheres. Since they are described as "spheres", and sometimes as being part of a "ring", I frequently envision them as planets, with a shining arc of planets stretching off into the darkness during the night.Or are they more like the planes (shudder) of the D&D cosmology?

I am a bit confused about the physical (if such a term can be applied to metaphysical domains) aspect of the various worlds or spheres. Since they are described as "spheres", and sometimes as being part of a "ring", I frequently envision them as planets, with a shining arc of planets stretching off into the darkness during the night.Or are they more like the planes (shudder) of the D&D cosmology?

"Spheres" is a commonly used term in alternate history/ transdimensional fiction (blame Moorcock). It means a large place, usually a planet, that is reached by extradimensional travel. Places is the term used for smaller locations, usually for pocket universes and small locations that don't quite fit the cosmological term of planet. An Alternate Earth would be a sphere, while a fairy underhill would be a place. The Exalted world would be a sphere, even though it is not a planet (per say). (though the edges have associated places, those fair folk regions... other "places" you can travel to physically)

The Planes of D&D cosmology is simply the extension of the mystical planes of Astreal, Etheral planes put down by Golden Bough trained mystics. These planes co-exist in the same coordinates as a material world, but on a different vibrational plane. Some writers have put forth the layer theory where various densities of astreal or etheral energies, which correspond to elemental (but are not). In short, they (D&D designers) are even more confused than GBs because they took and idea and ran so far with it. Each of these planes would be tied to a single planet/ sphere with no overlap with other spheres. (lets not discuss spell jammer).

In short, planes follow the given material sphere/ planet.

The Ring of Spheres could be visualized as a ring of planets, strung like pearls on a strand. Each of these spheres has the same 3d coordinate, usually the same 4th (time coordinate) but an different 5th and 6th dimensional coordinate (probability and hyper probability) and even 7th through 9th dimensional coordinates (the energy vibrational level -there are are approximately 11 "dimensions" of measurement per current theories... so don't hurt your brain). If you have ever seen the intro to Sliders, it has a nice visualization.

It is best to think of them as planets in different dimensions. Each planet is linked by a metaphorical link to the planets on either side of it in the ring.

However, if you viewed a sphere from space, you would just see a lone planet spinning in space. It is only when you start viewing things with a transtemporal or transdimensional point of view that things get odd.